One Year

For 11 months we've documented each month noting milestones and taking pictures and now it's time to post the last one. Last monthly one that is. So here is Adalyn at 12 months old.

Adalyn started walking on the 14th of December. She had taken one step here and there but that day she took 4 steps. Then in the next few days she took off. It just clicked. Within a week she was walking fast and hardly ever fell. It is so cute to watch such a little person walking around. In fact she loves to wander. She will walk from one room to the next and back. She will walk all over the house. She just loves that she can.

We started off our little photo shoot with a few tears, so clearly I started singing, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." Have I mentioned that she loves to dance to music? Whenever you sing, she starts shaking her head and swaying back and forth. That made her cheer up for some happier photos.

Anytime people are laughing around Adalyn, she chimes in and starts laughing. She loves to play. She likes peek-a-boo, being tickled, chase, knocking down blocks, really she just loves to be happy and be with people. I especially love seeing Benton and Emmett interact with her. She loves them.

I have a confession. I haven't been very good with Adalyn's sleep schedule. Every time she woke up in the night I would just go in and feed her. Mostly because I was so exhausted that I didn't realize that I had already put her back to sleep 4 times. It was really bad. There were many nights she would wake up every 2-3 hours. And we are talking at 11 months old! Anyway it was time for this to change. It was kind of sad, and really hard to hear, but we let her cry. The first night was bad. I think I went in once, but that was it. She woke up a couple of times and cried herself to sleep. 

The next night she cried a few times again. My goal was to not go in to her room until about 5am. The third night I put her to sleep at 7:30 and she didn't wake up until 6. That's ten and a half hours! She has never in her life slept more than 6 hours straight. And that was rare. Which means that for the past year I haven't slept more than about 5 hours straight, her long stretches were always before I'd go to sleep. I felt amazing the next day! AMAZING! And I could tell it was good for her too. She has been doing great since.

She has decided that she really likes daddy. She always liked him but always preferred to stay with me. Now when Dad comes home she reaches for him. She snuggles with him too, and her snuggles are still the best!

Her favorite things are her baby doll, books, and her princess castle she got for Christmas. She loves to stand on the castle and try to pick it up. No delicate tea parties are occurring yet, just storming the castle and taking over.

At her doctor's appointment everything looked perfect. She weighs 21 pounds and is 29 inches tall.

It's been a great year. We've loved watching her become this beautiful little girl. We love you Adalyn!